Bathing suit



Dc. 30, 1930. G. E. RUTLEDG' BATHING SUIT Filed Nov. 6, 1922 E 5% w Fww m: 7 m O m a 8 @q MM KITTQENEKS Patented Dec. 30, 1930 um'ran mm P T NT OFFICE GEORGE E. RUTLEDGE, or onrcaeai rnvors, assreivonro 'rrrn MUN'SINGWEAR con- PORATION, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION or MINNESOTA BATHING sor a.

Application filed November 6, 1929. serial- 1101405425.

A one-piece bathing suit of common type 1 and the legs of thetrunk portion-of the garment have tendency toward curling or wrinkling up to render the bathing suit unsightly and uncomfortable. I I

I ThBIObjBCt Of the present invention is to provide a one-piece bathing suit consisting of a body portionyatrunk portion, and a short skirt portion terminating at elevation above the lower edges of the legs of the trunk portion and equipped with an elastic element, at or'adjacent to'the lower extremity of said skirt? portion adapted tothe purpose of causing the'skirt portion to cling snugly to the body of a wearer below the' hips and about the legs of the trunk portion tothus insure that the skirt portion and the legs of the trunk portion of the garment will at all times be situated in smooth andproper relation to the wearers body-in. the same condition-in 5 which arranged when the bathing suit is originally 'put on. ,7 With the above object inview, the invention will now be fully described and will hereinafter be specificallyclaimed it being under- 340 stood that the 'disclosures herein are merely ing sense, changesYin-detail of construction v andarrangement of parts being-permissible S0 long as withinthe scope of jthe olajimswhich follow; f

pieceiof relatively flimsy, slightly stretchable, textile material.

lngthe accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 'lis a-front elevational view of the novel bathing'suit as when in use;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in frontelevation, partially sectioned and partially broken j awayg'ot the bathing suit as when out of use;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the lower part of the skirt portion and theelastic element? w 7 Fig.4 is a perspective view of ajfra-gment iof'the skirt portion disclosing an elastic elee inent'olt' modified construction; I

i Fig. 5 isan enlarged sectional view on line 55*1n Fig. 4;"

s Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fragment of the skirt portion including spaced apart elastic elements; f

7 Fig.7 is an'elevational view of a fragment of the skirt portion having a still further inodiiiedvform of elastic element; and

, Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view on line 81-8 in Fig. 7;

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 301 the-drawing,2 indicates the body portion, 3 the skirt portion and l thelegs of the trunk portion of the bathing suit of the invention. As disclosed, the body portion 2 and theskirt'portion 3 consists of a single The trunk portion also consists of relatively flimsy, slightly "stretchable, textile material having its upper portion suitably stitched to the inner face of the garment at the, location where the body portion Zand the skirt portion 3 meet each other, as indicated at 5. The legs 4 of the trunk portion terminate slightly below the lower extremity of the skirt portion 3.

A The skirt portion 3 is equipped with airillustrative and intended 1n no way in a'hnnt- P elastic element 6, at its lower margin as shown, encircling the skirt portion for its full-circumference and being stitched thereto, as bystitching 7 desirably of elastic type; that-is to say, so arranged as not to unduly interfere with. stretching of the elastic element. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the elastic element 6 when unexpanded is of slightly less circumference than the lower part of the skirt portion 3, so that when the garment is applied to use the elastic element 6 will be slightly expanded by that portion of the body of a wearer below the hips, to thus be placed under suflicient tension to cause the skirt portion and the elastic element to cling snugly to the wearers body and about the legs of the trunk portion, to insure that the skirt portion and the legs of the trunk will at all times be situated in smooth, proper and intended relation to the body of the wearer, in precisely the condition in which arranged when the bathin suit is put on. The elastic element 6 maybe of any material suitable to its purpose. As shown, it has elasticity considerably in excess of that-possessed by the skirt portion 3. Naturally, the elastic element 6 will have sufficient elasticity to very .snugly cling to the body .of the wearer without enough pressure to be uncomfortable.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the elastic element is disclosed a continuous band 8 attached to the full circumference of the inner face of the skirt portion 3 adjacent its lower margin, as by two rows of elastic stitching 9 each passing through the opposite side edges of the elastic element. In the present form of the invention, theelastic element 8 can have about the same, or more or less, elasticity as the elastic element 6. In cases where the skirt vortion 8 is designed to have quite a snug tabout the wearers body, the elastic element 8 can be of about the same circumference as the inner face of the lower part of the skirt portion. In cases where it is desired that lower margin of the skirt portion more snugly engage the body of a wearer than does the remainder of said skirt po rtion,,the elastic band Scan be attached to .the inner face of the skirt portion 3 while said elastic band is held slightly stretched or expanded, in any manner well known in strips 10 can be attached .to the skirt portion while under no tension, or said elastic strips can be slightly stretched and stitched while ,under' tension In the "latter case, the parts of the skirt portion at the locations of the elastic strips will be slightly gathered when the garment is out of use, and will be .ten-

sione'd when upon a wearer tosupplythe desired changing of the lower part of the skirt portion to the wearers body. The elastic strips 10 can consist of material similar to that constituting theelasticelement 6 ,or the elastic element 8.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the skirt portion 3 includes a fold or circumferential pocket 13 at its lower margin in which a continuous elastic band 12 is situated. The elastic band 12 can be of circumference approximately equal to that of the lower part of the skirt portion of the garment or can be of any desired smaller circumference designed to increase the yieldable cling of the skirt portion of the garment to the body of the wearer and about the legs of the trunk portion. The elastic band 12 can consist of material similar to that constituting the elastic elements 6, 8 or 10.

While I-have shown the body portion 2 and the skirt portion 3 as integral with each other andthe trunk portion stitched to the garment at the location where the body portion and the skirt .portign meet it is to be understood that the body portion and the trunk portion can be integral and the skirt portion can be a separately attached piece of material, or the skirt portion and the trunk portion can be integral and the body portion separately attached.

I claimas my invention:

1. A bathing suit consistingof a body and skirt portion made of a single piece of relatively flimsy,.slightly stretchable, textile :material-extending slightly below theupper hip portion, a trunk portion made separate from the one piece combined body and skirt portion, said trunk portion also made .of flimsy, slightly stretchable, textile material and having leg portionsextending slightly below the skirt portion, the trunk portion being stitched-to the inner face oft-heonepiece body and skirt portion, the skirt portion having at its lower edge. an elastic element stitched thereto by elastic stitching, said elastic ,element when unexpanded being of slightly less length than the adjacent lower part of the skirt portion, whereby when the garment is applied to use the elastic element will be slightly expanded by that portion ofthe body of the wearer below the hips and thus placed under suflicient tension to cause theskint portion and the elastic element to cling snuglyto the lower part of the leg portions to insure that the skirt portion and the legsofthe trunk portion when wet be situated in smooth relation with thebodyof the wearer.

A bathing suit consisting of a body portion, a skirt portion and a trunk portion, all formed from relatively flimsy, slightly stretchable textile material, the skirt. )Qrtion extending slightly below the upper hip portion and the trunk portion arranged within and having leg portions-extending slightly below the skirtportion, the skirt port-ion having at its edge an elastic element stitched thereto by elastic stitching, said elastic eleapplied to use the elastic element will be slightly expanded by that portion of the body of the wearer below the hips and thus placed under suflicient tension to cause the skirt portion and the elastic element to cling snugly to the lower part of the leg portions to insure that the skirt portion and the legs of the trunk portion when wet be situated in smooth relation with the body of the wearer.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of October 1929.

GEORGE E. RUTLEDGE. 

